The first census of the district was taken in 1847. The returns showed a total
population of 537,594 souls, falling at therate of 333 to
the square mile.The district then con­tained 934 inhabited villages, of which 803 contained less than 1,000 inhabitants and 121 had between 1,000 and 5,000. The towns having a population exceeding 5,000 were, in
order of size, Kairana, Thana Bhawan, both of which con­tained over 11,000 persons, Shamli, Jalalabad, Muzaffarnagar
and Kandhla, each containing over 7,000, and
Jhinjhana, Budhana, Jansath and Charthawal, The urban population numbered 74,897 souls, or about fourteen per cent, of the
total number of inhabitants. Even amongst these there must have been a large
proportion dependent more or less on the land for their subsistence. In fact, the towns in
this district partake far more of the nature of large villages
than of towns proper, and the entire district is essentially agricultural in charac­ter.

The census of 1852, better
known as the census of 1853 from the year of report, shows a total population numbering
672,861 souls, or 409 to the square mile. The number of inhabited villages had fallen to
887, and of these 717 had a population of less than 1,000, and 159 had between 1,000 and
5,000 inhabitants. The towns with more than 5,000 residents were the same as in 1847 with
the addition of Miranpur. The changes in the boundaries of the district occurring between
these two enumera­tions had resulted in an increase of ten villages with 7,828
inhabitants; but even if this be deducted from the total population the increase is
striking, and must in a great measure be attributed to defective enumeration in the first
instance.

The
censusof 1865 wasmoreaccurateandthereforemore valuable for the purposes of comparison.It gives a total
population of all sexes, ages andcreedsof682,212souls, witha densityof 414to thesquare mile.The districtthencontained 1041
villages,of which871 had less than 1,000 inhabitants, 161between 1,000 and5,000, whilethetownshavingmore than 5
000 inhabitantswere the same as in 1853, with theexception of Budhana.The increase sincethelast
enumeration is not verygreat as thirteen
years had elapsed, but at the same lime it must he
remembered thatin theintervalthemutinyhad occurred, resulting in a great disturbance
of the population, and this was followedbytheveryseverefamineof1860whichdrove, atleastforatime,alargenumberofvillagersfromthe district.

The
next census occurred onlysevenyearslater,in1872. The
returnsshowedatotal population of 690,082 souls, giving
419
inhabitantstothesquaremile.Thedistrictwasthen dividedinto883inhabitedtillages,withan averageof782
inhabitants to each village. The actual classification of villages shows that 708
had a population of less than 1,000 persons, 162 between
1000 and5,000,whilethetownswithapopulation exceeding 5,000 soulswerethe same
as in the previous enumera­tion,withtheadditionofKhatauli
andGangeru.Therehad beennochangesintheareaof thedistrictduringtheperiod that had
elapsed since1865,and themost
noteworthyfeatureof thiscensus wastheapparentlygreat, diminutionin the agricul­tural population, which hadfallenby morethan
50,000 perpersons.
This appears to be cgiefly due to an error in classification, for day laourers and the
mass of agricultural population were included in the non-agricultural classes, cheifly
because their caste-name denoted a trade.

At the cenusu of 1881 the total population of
district was ascertained to be 758,444 persons, fallingat therate of 457.9 to the square mile. The Most notableincreaseheretoforerecorded. Through out the nortern halfof theMeerut divisionthepopulation
was found to have grownveryrapidly, theincreasein Muzaffarnagar
beingas much as 68,337. The district at that time
contained 912 inhabitedvillages,of which
609 had a population of less than 1,000
inhabitants, and 187 between 1,000 and 5,000. The towns with a population of 5,000 and
over were sixteenin number; Budhana was again restored to the list,the otheradditions
being Pur and Sisauli, The great increase in the population of the district was a
natural accompaniment of a suc­cession of prosperous years during which the period of
scarcity that characterised the laterhalfof the decade had failed to produce any baneful effect on
this district, but rather the reverse.

In
1891 we find a stillfurther increase but not at thesame rate.Census The total population of the
district was returned at 772,874 per­sons, or 14,430
more than in 1881. The district then contained 900
inhabited villages, of which 689containedapopulationof lessthan1,000 persons,
and 196 between 1,000 and 5,000. The number and names of thetowns remain
the same asinthepre­ceding enumeration.Nothing of any importance occurred
during this period in the history of the district, and the developmentof population
may on the whole be taken as normal, although possibly it was checked to some extent by
the spread of fever consequent on saturation in
certain tracts. The increase in theurban, as comparrd with the rural, population had not
been very great during the past fifty years, theformer amountingto16.3 per cent, and the latter to 83.7 per
cent, of thetotalpopulation,thepropor­tion,as before, being smaller than in any other
district of the division.

At
the last census of 1901 thedistricthad an
ascertained population of 877,188 persons residing in 928 inhabited sites. Of the
latter 433 had a population of under 500, and 234 under 500 and 1,000; the number of
villages between 1,000 and 5,000 was 246, while
those with a population of over 5,000 remained the same
as in 1891. The increase in the population since the last census was enormous, amounting to no less than 104,313
persons, although thiswas far smallerthan theresultsobtained in the three southern districts of the
division. The population of every tahsil and of almost
every pargana has increased by large amounts.
The districthad passed through a period of unexampled prosperity andthepeople were quiteunaffected by
the drought of 1897.Whatrealdistress
theremay have been was confined to ,poorest labourers,and theprevailinghigh prices added wealth the community as awhole.Duringthe
wet yearof1894 andthespringof1895thepeople were enabled to save their
water rates and to hold up their
stores of grain all through 1896 in the hope of obtaining evenhigher
prices.The greatest increase was
found among the rural population, the percentage
to the total in this case risingto 84.7.

The
mean density of the population, as determined by
the figures of 1901, is 531.3 to the squaremile,showingan increase
of 65.2 persons to every square mileof the district since
1891. If we refer back to tho figures of 1847 and assume that enumeration to be accurate,
wefind thatduringthe past fifty-four years the population has increased at an average rate of 3.6
persons to the squaremileineachyear.Thisis exactlythesame as that obtained in 1881, and
approximately thesameasin1872 and 1865.On the other hand, the returnsof 1852
show an average annual increase during
tho preceding five years of nolessthan 14.4 persons to each square mile of the district,
a figure so great that it almost necessitates the
rejection of the accuracy of the census of 1847.
If we accept the figures of 1852, we find the average annual increment to be only 2.5 persons to the square mile; this is lower than any other figure to be obtained by the same method of calcula­tion
from the returns of other enumerations, but on
the other hand it must be remembered that the census of 1852 was followed by a very
disastrous period in the history of the district. As a matter of fact, the unprecedented
increase in the population between 1891 and 1901 completely upsets all calculations of this
nature, but at the same time it cannot be disregarded; for there seems no rea­son, m the
absence of undesirable calamities, why the population should not go on increasing at the
same rate so long as the land can yield enough
for their support.Whether finality in this respect
within measurable distance of realization remains to be seen: the subdivision of sharesandholdingshasalreadybecome so minutethat itseems
asif the only possibility for the support of
a still larger population liesintheapplicationofimproved
method of agriculture.

Further,
the population has not been swelled by
immigration to any proclaimed extent. For every 10,000 of the people, 8,600 were
born in the district, while1,198 were nativesof contiguous districts. This leaves 202 persons in every 10,000, who were
born in other parts of the provinces or elsewhere. This figure is fairlyhigh, but
at the same time much lowerthan in any other district of the Meerut division.The
percentage of immigrants was in all14.7, and of these over two-thirds were females, whose advent
is simply due to the natural marriage customs of
the country. Moreover, against this immigration we have to set the number of emigrants, the percentage of the latterto the
popula­tion born in the district being as much as 9.5,so that theactual increase accruing from external addition to thepopulationis but verysmall.

Of the total population, males numbered 469,243 as against
407,945 females. The disproportion between the sexes
thus amounts to 3.1 per cent., representing a
very considerable decrease during the past thirty
years, for in 1872 it was as much as 6.3 per cent., and
at that time there were only 837 females to every1,000 males
in the district.At the present time,of allthe districts in the division, excluding
Dehra Dun, where special circumstances prevail, Muzaffarnagar has a greater disproportion
in this respect than the others, Saharanpur alone
excepted. The proportion of females becomes greater as
we go southwards, the difference being much less marked in Meerut than in Muzaffarnagar
and again in Bulandshahr as compared with Meerut. In this
connection it is significant that the infanticide rules have not yet been withdrawn
from all the villages of this district pro­claimed in 1878, whereas in Bulandshahr the whole district has
been exempt for many years. The only point of importance in this matter, so far as this
district is concerned, is that there has been a great
improvement during the past fifty years. We cannot,
however, accept the returns of 1852, which showed only261,027
females out of total population of 672,861 persons.

Tho
statistics relating to infirmities wore collected for the first time in 1872. In that year there were 3,043 persons
afflicted, of whom 2,538 were blind, 143 deaf and dumb, and 227 lepers.The
last
census shows a very materialimprovementin this respect, as thedistrictis proportionatelymuch betteroff thanthe adjoiningtracts.In
all,1,988
persons were returned as afflicted, andof these 1,653 were blind,a very much
lowerfigure than in theotherplainsdistrictsof
thisdivision.The number of deaf-mutes alone had risen,the total being151, but lepers had de­creased to 76.

Classifyingthe whole populationaccording to religions,
thecensus returnsof 1901 give600,833 Hindus,
255,292 Musalmans, 10,150 Jains, 3,122 Aryas,
1,402 Christians,280 Sikhsandnine Buddhists.Theproportionof
MusalmanstoHindusisvery large in thisdistrict,and
isonlyexceededinSaharanpurand
thenorthern
districtsofRohilkhand.In1872thepercentage of Hindus to thetotal
populationwas72.3andofMusalmans
27.7, or roughly threeMusalmaastoevery eight hindus.In
1901 Hindus numbered69 per cent, ofthe whole population, whileMusalmans had
increased to28.9per cent.It willthus be
seen that the rate of increase of theMusalman
population in thisdistrict,as elsewhere,is
coasiderably morerapidthanthat
of the Hindus.No is this
due in any way to conversion, but is the result
of the established facts that Musalmans are not only more
fertilethan Hindus, but that they alsolivelonger.The reason is to a large extent,and
especially so inthis district,that the Musalmans on thewholearebetteroffthantheHindus. They do notincludeamong theirnumbers so largeaproportion of theverypoor as the later and this distrinction isparticularly marked in Muzaffarnagar to the
numbers and influence of the Baraha Sayidis.

First in point of numbers come the Chamars, amounting
to 135,132 persons. They have increased enormously since 1872, to theextentof nearly40,000
persons. As is usual in this divi­sion,they
form the bulkof the agricultural population, but are chiefly found
as mere field-labourers rather than as tenants. They has the list in every tahsil of the district except Budhana, butthey own no landanywhere. Their presence is generally resented by the
the rest of the population, for the effects of their competition
for landresultin an
enhancement of the rental. They labour hard and apparently withsuccess, as they almost invariably have to pay excessive rates.

Next
come the Jats, numbering 83,259 persons, who are perhaps
themost
important Hindu caste in the district.Besides the Hindu members of this clan, a considerable
number, amount­ingto 10,585 persons, are Musalmans. Their originhas been constantly
discussed, and in this connection we may quote the words
of Mr. Miller,the Settlement Officer: " Much ingenuity has
been spent on the attempt to prove them to be Scythians; but, if physiognomy counts for anything, no one coulddoubt their Aryan origin.Their
tribes or subcastes are extremely nu­merous; 650 have been taken account of in the
census returns in thisdistrictalone. Withscarcely any exception, allthe tribes
state that they migrated to this district from the Panjab, Jhind,Hariana,
Sirsa, Rohtak, and the places in which they locate their originalhome. The great tribe of theghatwalas how­ever,who holda chaurasi of
villages in the west of the dis­trict and in Meerut, invariably say that they come from
Ghajni or Garh-Gajni, and it is generallysupposed
that the Afghan Ghazni is alludedto. The
other most important clan here is tho Balian with headquarters at Sisauli and Purbalian. The Saliklan,a powerful body, further south,have some
repre­sentativesin this district. The Jats entered thedistrict from the south-west and established themselves in its most fertile tracts. Avoiding the wastes and jungles near the Jumna, they took almost exclusive
possession of the rich tract lying between
Shamli and the southern border; then crossing the Hindan they occupied the southern
portion of pargana Baghra and the best estates of Shikarpur; but the force of the
immigration had spent itselfby this time, and across theKali,though Jats are still
numerous, their communities are scattered
amongst villagesbe­longing to cultivators of other classes."

The
parent village of the Ghatwalas is Lisarh. Shamli is an­other large Jat centre, whilethe Jatsbetween
Shamli and the southernborder hold what is known as a " bioni " or group
of fifty-two villages. The largeJatsettlement in
the northof the district lying between the Gujars and Chauhans of Chausiana on
the westand
thePundirsof
Muzaffarnagarontheeastis composedof varioustribeswhich havegradually
coalesced. There are also any jat occupying the uplandridge above the Ganges khadir. Most of the Jats in
thisdistrictare known as Deswalas, who were the first of theirclanto
obtain a footing in these provinces. The Jats
are undoubtedlythebest cultivatorsin thedistrict,and to themare due the creditof introducingthepresent systemof agriculture.They
are very hard workers, their toil continuing allthe year round;
there is scarcely any season in which some cropdoes not call for attention.In.
character they are somewhat narrow-minded, and theirself-reliancetends to exilusivenessand a spiritof excessive
independence. Further, there is a great want of cohesion among the Jat communities, and they are rapidly being
broken up intovery small fragments by partitions.At the
same time their superiority is manifested by the
fact that the Jat
villagescan pay withease revenues .which would undoubt­edlycause a
break-down if the lands were heldby other castes, while
atthe same time they maintain an equallyhigh
standard of comfort.

The
Kahars are also a very numerous caste in this district,
numbering 46,872persons.
They belong to the menial Castes, but are constantly
found as cultivators in all parts of the
district particularly in the Kairana tahsil. The great
bulkof
them belong to the Mahar subdivision, the only other family that is found in anynumbers being the Dhinwars. There are no Musalman
Kahars in this district. The same remarks as
were made above regarding the Chamars apply withequal force to
the Kahars also.

Closely
followingon theKahars come Brahmans, numbering 46785. As elsewherein the northof the Duab, the great majority belong to the
Gaur division. They are chiefly found in the western halfof the district,their numbers in the Jansath tahsilbeing
comparatively small. They holda fair proportion of the land, amounting at the time of the last settle­ment
to 17,394 acres. Nearly half of this is in, the
Kairana tahsil and thebulk of the remainder in Muzaffarnagar and Budhana. Next come the Saraswati who are again divided into large number of clans, the most common in thisdistrict
being the Kashmiris
and Acharyas. The spurious Brahmans, known as Bohras
or Rahtis, arefound in smallnumbers in this
district,amounting to 288 persons. They arealmost -wholly confined
to the Meerut division, and though few in number
are of considerable importance owing to theirwealthandtradingpropensities.They aresaid to be immigrants fromMarwar and
are called Palliwalsfrom theiroriginal home, Pali, in that country. The Bohras are the great money-lenders and
pawn-brokers of the upper Duab and have acquired a considerableamount
of land, which at Mr. Cadell'ssettlementamounted to 7788 acres, chiefy situated in
the parganas of Muzaffarnagar, Bhukarheri and Charthawal. The leading family of thisclanresides at Muzaffar­nagar.

The Gujars are people of considerable importance. They numbered at the
last census 31,290 persons in this district Like the
Jats, they claimfor themselves a Rajput origin,and theirlargest clan,
the Kalsians, who holda chaurasi or tract of eighty-four villages near the
Jumna, trace their descent from a local Rajput chief. Theirprincipalhome in this dis­trictis in tne ill-cultivatedtract
borderingthe Jumna, bit they are also found in large numbers
on the other side of tie districtin the
villages near the ravinesoverlookingthe
Ganges khadir, and they occupy the
greater part of the khadir pargana of Gordhanpur.
The Gujars of Muzaffarnagar preserve the re­putation
for cattle-liftingwhich they possess in other districis, and most of them prefer a careless mode of lifewith allits dis­comforts
to a more settled existence. At the same time
they show a considerable amount of energy when they devote themselves to agriculture, and many communities have settleddown
steadily to farming withthe best results. They stillrank among
the chief landholders of the district,and at the time of Mr. Miller's settlement
they held 96,549 acres, half of which lay in the Kairana tahsil, and the greater part of the remainder in
Gordhanpur and Khandha. Much of the land,
however, held by the Gujars is of a very inferiorquality.In the days of Raja Ram-dayal of Landhaura the
Gujars were undoubtedly the chief landholders of thewhole district,but the
vast estate was broken
up at his death in 1813, and thevillages restored to thier originalproprietors.
A largenumber of Gujars, amounting to 15,866 persons, in additionto the numbers given above, have embraced Islam, but these differ but littlefrom other
Hindu brethren.

Next come the Rajputs, both Hindu and Musalman. The former at
the last census numbered 28,642 persons and the latter 23,634. They are found in comparatively small numbers in this
district,if we consider the prevalence of Rajputs in Meerut andthe
other districts of the Duab, and this appears to be due to the supremacy of the Saiyids,
Gujars and others at different periods of the history of the district. Within recent times, at all events the Rajputs have never occupied a very
prominent place in Muzaffarnagar. The Rajputs, in fact,
appear to have been to a large extent dispossessed by the Jats. They still own a
number of villages in the south of the district
and have retained most of the estates forming the
northern portion of Thana Bhawan and the adjoining parganas. The Jats seem
everywhere to have seized upon the best land,
and the Rajput properties in the south and east mainly
consist of riverain villages. In the north-west a very largetract of
country is still covered with Rajput cultiva­tors, who in almost all cases had
proprietary rights up to the mutiny. The Rajputs are
among the earliest Aryan settlers in the district, their chief clans being the
Chauhans, numbering 9,775, and Pundirs, 6,854. Of these the Pundirs came first; they are of the same family as those in Saharanpur, and have
retained or invented a more general account of
their wanderings than usual. According to their
account they went from Ajodhia to Kach Bagha on theocean, thence to Bijapur in the Deccan, to
Lahorishahr in Tilangdesh, thence again to Pundri in Karnal, and to Mayapur near Hardwar. They were driven out of Karnal by
the Chauhans, who came from Sambhal in Moradabad or Sambhar in Rajputana, and who
apparently had followed them across the river.

The headquarters of the
Chauhans is at Chausana in Bidauli, close to the
Saharanpur border. Here they hold a "chaubisi'' or colonyof
twenty-four villages,most of which are stillin the hands of their founders. They also occur
in many other parts of the district, but are people of no status or importance. Theyhave
settled down to agriculture, and in common with the other Rajputs
of this district display no aversion as a class to manual labour.
They cannot be regarded among the first rank of culti­vators,
and many of them bear an indifferent reputation, which they
fullyjustified in the mutiny. The Chauhan Rajputs, however, should not be confounded with the Chauhans of the Ganges khadir,
who are not Rajputs at all. They appear to have
come to this district from Bijnor, and are said to be the descendants of a Rajput and a
Chamar; in theirappearance they
certainly resemble the latter caste. They lead an unsettled and wandering life and very seldom devote themselves seriously to
agriculture.

Of
the other Rajput clans found in this district, the chief are
the Jadons, numbering 3,861, Kachwahas, 2,477, Gaharwars, Panwars, Gahlots, Gaurs,
Bargujars, Bhale Sultans, Tomars, and
Solankis. With the exception of the first two, none of these occur in any numbers. The
Gaharwars have 600 members and the
Gahlots 360, but none of the others are found in numbers greatly
exceeding one hundred. Besides these, several other clans are
found in very small numbers, and are not deserving of special mention. They are all petty
agriculturists and have no influence
or position. Generally speaking, the Rajputs of this district
are very much looked down upon by the great Rajputs of the south, although the
relationship is undoubtedly recognised. The
Kachwahas are said to have been at one time unusually powerful
in this district, but are now only found in a few villages on
the southern border. Their traditional headquarters were at Tisang,
whence they say that they formerly heldsway over a chaurasi,
with a Raja of their own at the head. These Kachwa has are called Jhotiyanas in this
district -a name said to be derived from
Jhotwara in Jaipur, whence they originally came.

Among the Musalmaan Rajputs the most numerous are
Chauhans 9,197, and Pundirs, 4,887, according to the figures of the last census. Besides
these, there are considerable numbers of
Bargujars, Panwars, Tomars, Bhattis and others. The Musal­man Rajputs only holdone-fifth of the amount of land in the possession
of their Hindu brethren, and their estates are
almost entirely confined to the Kairana and Budhana tahsils. The village of Ainchaulli, on
the left bank of this western Kali Nadi in the extreme west
of pargana Khatauli,issaidtohave been headquarters
of an estate held by SombansiRajputs.Most propertyleft,however,issituatedintheMeerutdistrict.

Next
in pointof
ordercometheBanias,whoatthelastcensus
numbered28,570persons.Thesefiguresexclude
the Jains to whom they are closelyrelated,almost allofthelatter
being Banias of the Agarwal subdivision.The HinduBanias for the
most part belong also to the Agarwal clan,
whichisrepresented
by 22,517 persons.The onlyother subdivisionsof
anyimportanceinthisdistrictarctheBarasenis,Mahesrisand Rustogis, butofthesetheBarasenisalonehaveover1,000 representatives.The Banias occur
everywhere, butarechiefly found in the Kairnna and Muzaffarnagar tahsils.Asevery where they
includeamongst
theirnumbersmanypersonsofgreat wealthandinfluence,andoccupyaleadingplaceamong
the land owningclasses ofthedistrict.ThechjefBanialandlords
belong to a large banking firm in Muzaffarnagar thatrosetoa positionofconsiderableinfluenceandimportanceafterthe mutiny.TheBaniasof Chhapar
alsohold largeestates,of which
they gained possession throughtheirconnectionwiththe Gujar chief of Landhaura.Another prominent family of Baniasare
those at Talra in pargana Jauli-Jansath; thefounder
of thefamilyhavingbeendependent
ontheSaiyidsof Jansath.Banias
are never popular as landlords, but in the
opinion of thesettlementOfficer they are, in thisdistrict, quite as good asanyother
class.Intheircapacityofmony-lenderstheyhave acquired afooting
in many estates throughoutthe district,andspeciallywest of the Hindau, andtheyaregradually
increasing their hold.

The
Jain Banias form one of the most important
class of the mercantile community, and are deserving of notice on account influence and wealth.
They are generally known as Saraugis, are to be found in all
the market towns of the district. At the last cenus numbered 10,150 persons, a figure only exceeded in Meerut, Agra and Jhansi. They
have in their hand almostthewholeoftheexporttradeof
thedistrict,and theirwealth is attestedby thenumber of fine tem­ples they have
builtin many places. In Khatauli, for instance, the
second market of the district, there are no less than four large Jain temples of comparatively recent erection.

Littleneed be said regarding the Bhangis, who at the last census numbered 27,279persons. They are very numerous in allthe districts
of thisdivision,butoccupy a verylowplace in the social scale and area purely menial
caste. Occasionally they are found as agriculturists, but very seldomas regular tenants, their general work being day-labour in one form or another. They are closely followed in point of numbers by the
Sanis, of whom there were 26,261 in thisdistrictin 1901. The
Sanis are connected with theMalis,but in
this district they have come under the influence of the Jaits and areregular
cultivators rather than market-gardeners. They are far more numerous in Muzaffarnagar than in any otherdistrictof the provinces, although large numbers of them arefound in Saharanpur and Bijnor. They occupy a prominent positionin the
first rank of cultivators, but,unliketheirbrethren in
Saharanpur, holdvery littleland as proprietors. Nearly halfof them are found in theJansath tahsil,the remainder being chiefly confined to the
north of the district. Nearly all the Sanis belong to the Bhagirathi subdivision of the caste. Theirkinsmen, the Malis, numbered
6,078 persons, and are almost entirelyconfined to the Kairana tahsil.

Of
the remaining Hindu castes, very few call for any special mention. Next in point oforder
come Gadariyas, Faqirs, Kumhars, Koris and Barhais, all of whom number over 13,000 persons. None of these occupy a relatively conspicuous
position in any way, with the possible
exception of the Gadariyas, who are chiefly
found in the Muzaffarnagar tahsil,where they followtheir
ancestral pursuit as herdsmen, taking advantage of
the ample grazing-ground in thekhadir lands of the Ganges.

The
Tagas, though not found in anything approaching the numbers attained in Meerut and
Saharanpur, are still fairly numerous in this district,
being represented at the last census by 10,448 persons. They claim to be a branch of
Brahrmans and explain their position
as analogous to thatoftheBhuimharsof the eastern districts,
but who they really are is a matter of conjecture. Sir
H. M. Elliottbelieved the word Taga to be a corruptionof Takka, which he
considered to be the name of a race akin to the Scythians.Whether this be soor not, it is quiteincredible that the
Tagas, who are only found in any numbers in the Meerut and Rohilkhand divisions, should
have come from Gaur. in Bengal, although this is the tradition of the Tagas themselves. At
any rate,inthisdistrict theyundoubtedly came from the west and were
pressed by the Jats and Gujars intothenorthern and eastern tracts. They are now a purely agricultural clan and are good and industrious cultivators,but not equal to the Jats.Num­bers of them were converted to Islam in the time of Aurangzeb, and at the present time there are7,510 MuhammadanTagas in this district.There
are several subdivisions ofthe castes.The Bachas or Pachauliyan Tagas have
a compact settlement known as tbe Bahira, which is said to have originally consisted of
twelve villages in eastern Shikarpur.TheBikwan Tagas, said to have come fromBikanir, also claimtohave originally held twelve villages;theyarenowchieflyfound inPurChhapar.The Gandran clan isfound
in Budhana ; the Nimdan and Bhardwar in Charthawal; andtheRasdanin ThanaBhawan.Atthe present time half the Tagas arefoundintheMuzaffarnagar tahsil and most of therest in
Budhana.They are very consider­able landholders, and atthe timeof Mr. Miller'ssettlement were in possession of 53,497 acres, or
about five per cent, of the wholedistrict.There
arenolargelandownersamongthem, theirvillagesbeing allheldin coparcenary tenure.

Looking through the remainder of thelong list of castes that are representedin the
population of thedistrict, we find very few that claim attention, either on account of thenumbers in which they occur here or of their
comparatively rarity elsewhere.The
Rawas 5,667 persons and are only found in any considerable proportion in MeerutandBijnorbesidesthis district. Thye are a cultivatingclass,
but claim to beRajputs at leastin part and are said to have come to
this part of the country in reign of Shahjahan.
They are almost entirelyconfined to the Jansath & Budhana tehsils, and seldom riseabove the grade offarm
servants. Rors are another cultivating class found only in the Meerut division and chiefly
confined to this district, Saharanpur and Bulandshahr. They numbered at the last census
754 persons only. They appear to have come from the
Karnal district of the Punjab, but little is known of them. Their social status is
identical with that of the Jats; they are excellent cultivators and are readily admitted
as tenants. The Kambojs, both Hindus and Musalmans,
numbered 1,196 persons, and are only found in greater numbers in Saharanpur. They
are almost entirely con­fined to the Meerut and Rohilkhand divisions, and appear to have come from the west. They claim to be Rajputs, but their
origin is unknown. They are chiefly cultivators;
many of the Musalmaan members of the caste rose
elsewhere at different times to positions of
considerable eminence.

The criminal tribes are fairly
well represented in this district. According to the census returns, they are everywhere somewhat rare, but, comparatively speaking, Muzaffarnagar
con­tains a large proportion of the Sansias out of the total population of the provinces. The district almost monopolizes the
Bawariyas or Bauriyas. In 1901, out of a total number of 839 Bauriyas in the whole
of the United Provinces, no less than 726 were found in this district alone. Almost all
the remainder belonged to Mirzapur, but these eastern Bauriyas are supposed to be entirely
distinct. Owing to their being classed as criminal tribes their apparent numbers have
decreased very greatly, for in 1891 there were no less
than 2,729 Bauriyas in the provinces, of whom 1,107 resided in Muzaffarnagar. As
happened, however, with many other similar castes at the time of the census, many Bauriyas
were recorded under other names. From the police returns of the district it appears that
there are 1,422 Bauriyas in the dis­trict, of whom
800 are males.

These Bauriyas are very
interesting people. About a century ago they are said
to have lived in the junglesbordering on Gujarat, resorting to rapine and plunder
for their support. So great was their daring and atrocitythat travellerswere
compelled to hire some of them as guards on their journeys to ensure safety, whilethe villagersin theneighbourhood of
theirhauntswere obliged
to protect themselves by engaging some of them as watchmans. By degrees
theyformed themselves intoregular bands
of dacoits,and alltheefforts of theauthorities
to bring the offenders to justicewere not
of much avail. Shortly after the Mutiny,they were dealtwithunder
the CriminalTribes Act, andattempts
were madeto inducethem to settledown by free grants of land in pargana Bidauli.
In this way many of the Bhuriyas took up theirresidence as cultivatorsin elevenvillages of tjhat pargana, where they were
subjected to strict rules of sur­veillance,and
attempts were made to educate theirchildren. Those
measures were partiallysuccessful, and the strictguard on themwas graduallyrelaxed.
The Bauriyas, however, soon tiredof thislifeand began
to leavetheirhome
disguised as Goshains and Bairagis. In thismanner they travelledfreely aboutthecountrywithoutsuspicionand
were enabled to commit burglaries with
ease and impunity.

The
experiment of settling the Bauriyas was initiated by Mr. Martin in 1863. Bidauli was
selected as being an inaccessible place, and not
too far from the villageswhieh they
had previouslyhaunted in thisand the Saharaapur
district. The villagesin which they were settled
belonged to Saiyid Mahdi Hasan Khan, an Honorary Magistrate and a resident of the pargana. He failed, however, to keep in harmony
with the police, and in 1860 the Bauriyas rose to
open revolt, which was only checked by prompt action on the part of the local
authorities. There were at first 1200persons
in the settlement but the numbers had dwindled in
1870 down to 704 souls. At the close of 1873 the colony was brought under the provisions
of Act XXVII of 1871.

Since
that time the Bauriyas seem to have treated the settle­ment as their
regular home, but no measures avail to stop
them from wandering over the country periodicallyin
pursuit of their hereditary calling.They areextremely skilfulburglars and generally commit housebreaking withan iron tool
resembling a jemmy. This they always conceal by burying it under the ground near
their camp and only take it out when they start on their expeditious at night. Their usual
practice, when they arrive at avillage, is to
put up at the temple, to which they gain ready admission
on account of their externally sacred appearance, or else in some adjoining grove. They then reconnoitre thevillagesunderthe pretextof begging. They notecarefullytho children
and women who wear jewels and mark out thebetter houses.
They then bring their report to the leader, who goes and exam­ines the strategic position of each house. Theiroperations
are always conducted by night,and theirusual contrivance is to bore a small hole in the wall near the doorway so as to reach the bolt inside withtheir hands and thus to open thedoor. The stolen
articlesare made up in a bundle and entrustedto one of
their members,
who followsthe gang at a distance on theirway back to camp. As soon as they have got enoughto satisfythemin one place,they leavethe neighbourhood and travelveryfast, sometimes
covering twenty or thirtymilesat a
stretch. The stolen property is invariablyburiedat some spot near theircamp or
in any other place of security.

The
common language of the Bauriyas is a corrupted form of Gujarati, but they generally know
the vernaculars of the country as well.Besides this, they have a peculiarslangof theirown and also
commonly leave marks and signson houses and roads to give information to
thosecomingbehindthem. Thusa number of straight
lines will denote the number of persons in the gang, and a curved linewillpoint
out the route taken.In
their Religion they are fairly orthodox Hindus, but are extremely
superstitious. They never embark on any enterprise
without first consulting the auspices, chiefly by means of grains of wheatwhich they carry about their persons in asmalltinorbrass box.Themethod followed is to take out at
random a smallquantityof grainor sandal seeds and then to count thenumber of thegrains,the omen being considered favourable or the
reverse according as the number of seeds is odd or
even.This practice isfollowedboth before engaging on an enterprise and also at the
distribution of tho booty.This is generally done on moonlight nights.The entire property is
first dividedinto five shares, of which four areequally distributed among allthe members who took part in thecommis­sion of
the offence.The fifth shareisdividedintofourparts which are allotted, one to the deity, another to the men that have become old or sick, the third
to widows that arc supported by the group, and
the fourth to the leader.This
method is practically identical with that followed by the Barwars in Gonda.

In
additionto burglary, theBhuriyasarcextremelyexpert coiners.In themanufactureofspuriousrupeestheyemploy white metal or Kasa, the moulds being cast inaspecialkind of clay which isonlyfoundatGhaziabadandintheMeerut district.The millingis effected
by circlinga genuinecoin round the edges of themanufactured
rupee, whileit is stillhot from the mould.They appear to be as skilfulin utteringtheirbasecoin as they are in making them.In the towns and villages
a Bauriya willpose
as a countrysimpleton and ask the aidof anychance person to enablehimtochangesomeforeign coin,such asa
bikanairrupee,andwillatthesametimeask to be shown a Government rupee to enable himto recogniseitinthefuture. This ruse generallysucceeds, and the real rupee is exchangedfor a
counterfeit one whichhe returnswithprofusethankstothe unsuspectingstranger.Theyhavemanyothermethodstoo numerous to mention, but itisthoughtthattheBauriyas
are largely responsible for the abnormalcirculation
of basecoin
on the various railways.

Of
the Musalman population in this district the most
imptortant are the Saiyids, although in point of
numbers they are greatly outclassed by many
others.They numbered in all 13,638 persons, and belong mainly to theZaidi and
Husainisub-divisions. The history of
the SaiyidsofMuzaffarnagarisin greatpartthe history of thedistrict,
and a detailed account of the rise andfall of thegreat Saiyid
families willbe given later.

The
most numerous Musalmaan are the Julahas, whoin1901 numberedsomewhatover29,000persons.Theyarefound throughoutthe district,butpredominate in the Jansath andthe
Muzaffarnagar tahsils.While
chiefly pursuingtheirhereditary trade of weaving, theyareconstantlyfoundascultivatorsand arehard-workingandindustrious.Some
ofthewovenfabrics in thisdistrict
have acquired a certain reputation, and inseveral
Places blankets are made that find a ready sale in otherpartsof the country, and bear a good name.

Next to Julhas come the Sheikhs, numbering 25,500
persons, of these, over two-fifths belong to the Siddiqi sub-division
and the remainder are Qurreshis. The Sheikhs
proper in this district are usuallycalled
Sheikhzadas, and are numerous in Pur, Kandhla and Thana Bhawan. During the Muslmaan rules
the colonies of Sheikhs were setteled at Purkaji and at the cheif pargana centre in the
west. They have sufficient favour with successive dynaties to obtain large grants of land
free of revenue. These of late have been much reduced. There are two villages held revenue
free in Khatauli by communites of Sheikhs but elsewhere there possessions are small. At
the mutiny the Sheikh Qazi of Thana Bhawan occupied an influencial position and held many
villages both revenue free and otherwise. Unfortunately he rebelled and let the rajputs of
neighbourhood at the storming of the Tehsil at shamli. For this he forfieted his estates
and his life.

Following
closely on Sheikhs are the converted rajputs who in 1901 numbered 23634 persons. Refernce
has already been made to the clans from which they are cheifly drawn. They are still
considerable land holders, owning at the time of the last settelment about 12000 acres
cheifly in Kairana and Budhana tehsils. Among the other converted hindus the most
prominents are the Jats, who at the last census numbered 10585 persons. They include among
their numbers the great Marhal family of Karnal who reside at Jaroda in Pargana
Muzaffarnagar in this district. Nawab Azamat Ali Khan Bahadur is ddescended from a Jat who
embraced Islam during troublous time of Shah Alam reign, one of his dependents obtain a
grant of the parganas of Muzaffarnagar, Charthwal & Soron, which he held at the
conquest. For these the Marhals in 1806 received in exchange land beyond the Jumuna
comprising the parganas of Karnal, but a very great part of their possession lies in this
district. The original Jagir had been given by the Marathas to Mohamaddi Khan the great
grand father of the present Nawab and his brother. The exchange was made by the British
Government in return for services rendered by Mohamaddi Khan in the Maratha War. Duringthe mutiny Nawab Ahamad Ali Khan the father if
Azmat Ali Khan loyally aided the Government and received large rewards in return.

The
Pathans numbered 12196 persons in 1901 they belong cheifly Ysuf Zai, Kakkar and Afridi sub
division. In the tract between Hindon and Kali their is a cluster of villagesknownas theBara Basti, stillheldby a colonyof Pathans. Further
west,theKakarPathansoftheBawan Basti holda number of estatesstretchingin anirregularlinetowardsthe Saharanpur district,where theyaresaidtohavemanymore. Much
more recent arrivalsaretheAfricliAfghans,whowere settledin thenorthof ThanaBhawanbyAurangzebtokeep theturbulentRajputsinorder.Theyholdaconsiderable
amount of landia revenue-freetenure,andonevillage,Jalalabad, is said to havebeen conferred on themin reward for
a bold and
desperate flankattackon Nadir Shah'sarmyasitmarched to the plunder of Dehli.The Biluchisof thisdistrictarefound in smallnumbers.They oncehadafineproperty,muchof which
was revenue-free, in Baghra andfurtherwest.They
also are said to have been settledherebyAurangzeb,
and claimto have come from Mekran.Theylostmostof theirestates at an early date, and with the exception of a few well-to-domembers, who
scarcely belong to thesame social orderastheothers,are poor
and distressed and bear an indifferentreputation.Mughals are fairlynumerous in the district,beingrepresentedby2,155
persons.Theyare chiefly Turkomans, and belong to the
same clan as that which settled inthe south-westof Saharanpur, the parent village
being Lakhnauti in Gangoh.At the present
time about half the Mughals are found intheBudhanatahsil.They
are mostly inreduced
circumstances and have, as elsewhere, an aversion to personal labour.

The
remaining Musalman clans callfor littlecomment. They are
chiefly Telis, who numbered 14,181, Qassabs 13,986, Jhojhas
8,281, Faqirs 10,666, Dhobis, Lohars, Garas, Bhishtis and
Barhais. Most of these followtheirspecial callings.The Garas and Jhojhas are industrious farmers, and especiallythe former,
a hard-working, much-enduring class that is found largely in the Muzaffarnagar pargana. They sub-dividetheirfields with minuteness unknown amongst other castes, rendering the maintenance of maps and records difficult, and they pay
higher rents than any otherclass couldafford. The
Jhojhas are more numerous in thisdistrictthan
anywhere elseexcept in Sahilrau-pur. Both they and the Garas appear
to be converts from Hinduism. They are entirely confined to the eastern half of thedistrictand are most prevalent in theJunsath
tahsil. The census returns show very littlethat is
noticeable or interesting about the Musalmans
in Muzaffarnagar. There is on caste peculiar to
the district,nor is anyimportant caste found here in exceptional numbers. It is perhaps of interestto record
that the district possesses more Musalman Thatheras than any other part of theprovinces.Also,outof a
total number of 96 Lakheras, no less than 80
belong to this district,butthisseems to be merely a
matter of chance, in as much as elsewherethe same people would probablybe
recorded as Manihars or glass-blowers.Almost all the Muhammadan representativesof the caste known as Ramaiyas are found in thisdistrict.These people are pedlarsand are chiefly confined to Bijnor,where,
however, they are almost all Hindus. Properly speaking, theRamaiyas are
Sikhs, and how and why the Muzaffarnagar members
of the clanbecame Musal­man
is unknown. They support themselves by selling small hardware and begging.

Looking at the population of the district
as a whole we find Agricul. that by far the greater
portion is engaged, eitherdirectlyor indirectly,with
agriculture. This is only to be expected from the
nature of the country, as there are no large towns nor markets of any great
importance and almost all the trade is confined
to the products of the soil. At the last census no
less than 449,181 persons, or over 56 percent, of the total population, were actually engaged
in pasture and agriculture or elsewhere dependent on persons
so engaged. Previous enumerations give pratically the same result, and indeed there is no
reason why there should have been any change, for with the development of the
district general­ly there has been no disproportionate increase in trade or in any other
direction than agriculture. Of the whole agricultural popu­lation 23,400 persons were occupied with the provision and
tending of animals. The greater part of these are herdsmen and cattle-breeders, of
whom very few have anything to do with agricul­ture proper. The number of people engaged in stock-breeding and
dealing is proportionately very large, the
figures only being surpassed in the adjoining
districts of Saharanpur and Bijnor, and in Mirzapur. With regard to the rest of the
agricultural popula­tion, it is noticeable that the number of tenants and land-holders withtheir
dependents, amounts to no less than 433,953persons
over 96 per cent. of the wholeagricultural
population.Of the tenants very nearlyhalfhave
some rights of occupancyandthe number of agriculturallabourers
is, comparatively speaking, verymall,
so that it appears that by far the greater part of those who are engaged in husbandry have some portion of landactuallyin their possession. At the early enumerations
previous to 1881 the labouring population was not
added in with the agriculturists and hence we find that in 1853, for instance, the agricultural population
amounted to 48.3 per cent, of thewhole. In 1872 again the agricultural population was
retutned at only 36.5 per cent, of the whole, but if we include
labourers, the figure rises to about 60 per cent., which is probably normal.

The
chief agricultural classes have alreadybeenenumeratedabove,
and we may pass by without furthercommentthosewhohave
not been already made the subject of special mention. As their general condition we may
first quote a report made at the time of Mr. Cadell's revision in 1872: " The
agricul­tural population, as a rule, are in a
flourishing condition and are improving year by year. The industrious Jat communities are
especially well to day and no longer in debt; they are able to lay by money by which to
add to their possessions. The only portion of the community for which there seems no hope is the great class comprising the old Muhammadan
proprietary body: these are surely, if slowly, sinking in importance, their estates are over-mortgaged and must sooner or later corns to public sale.
Year by year portions of these estates come to the hammer on account of debts of
long standing, and no amount of loans or advance can retrieve
them.

The
following report also gives some account ofthe condition of
the agricultural labourersat thesame and at earlier periods :  "Thisclass consists principallyofChamars,Sanis,Kahdrs,J ulahas and Garas, with a few Jats.Thenominalrateof pay is from one and-a-half to two annas aday, but in realitythey receive anequivalentaccordingtothenatureoftheir
work. Thus reapers receive a sheaf of the crop that is being cut, which yields, or is supposed to yield five pakka seers of
grain, besides the straw. The five seers are apparently understood to represent one kachcha
bigha of work. Weaders, again, usuallyget two annas a day and sometimes work by contract.
Ploughmen ordinarily get one-eighth of the produce of the land ploughed, four kachcha maunds going to the
blacksmith and carpenter who made the plough. The
services of theChamar, Sani andKahar women are extensively employed in weeding
at the rate of one or one and-a-half anna a day; in plucking cotton or saffron, getting
one-tenth, one-sixth, one-fifth, or even one-fourth of the former, and one-sixth, one-third, or one-half of the latteras the case
may be; and in transplanting rice,
receiving from two to two and-a-half seers a day. They are also sometimes employed in
cutting chari at one and-a-half anna a day. The fluctuations in the rate of wages for plucking cotton are remarkable. The limitof remunera­tion
to female labour is said to be two annas or the equivalent. Children of the same castes
are employed as cowherds and for gathering fuel. It is difficult to ascertain the estimated value of their services: perhaps,
thirteen or fourteen kachcha maunds of grain, a year, come nearest to the mark. As
sugarcane is not sold by weight, labourers get so many sticks of cane with the green leaves on for cutting it. Obviously the
system of payment in kind is as profitable to the day-labourer and the artisan as it is
convenient to the cultivating proprietor, because a couple of annas or so, supposed to be
the equivalent of the produce received in return for the services rendered, would not
purchase the same amount of raw material in any of the district markets. This circumstance
explains the possibility of maintaining existence amid poverty, to which the circulation of the current coinage is almost unknown. " In 1825 Mr. Cavendish wrote:
" There are no slaves, but a kind of hereditary connection appears to exist between the
zamindars and the low-caste Chamar ploughmen employed by them. The latter cannot
change masters, but they may become day-labourers or
leave the village.The village servants are chiefly paid in kind, and all appear to be removable by the zamindars exceptthe sweepers." In nothing has the levellingnature of
our administration been shown more than inthe emancipation of these villageserfs, who
are now free to move where they like and
take service with any one they please. 20 yearslater, in 1890,Mr.Millerwrote
:" Alight-cuta secure tenure,
a fertilesoil,
a great rise in the price of the agricultural produce, andthe construction,ofnumerousimprovements by Government agency have combined to place the bulk of the agriculturalpopulatiflonin a positionof considerablecomfort
nad independance. The villagesboth of theproprietary
communities and the occupancy tenants oftheindustriousclasses giveevidence of
a standard of living that is for this country
fairly high; and the people themselvesroccognise theiradvantages,and
shrink from a descent to thelevelof the Purbiyas or inhabitantsof more east­erlydistricts. The
wealth of thedistrict,however,
is very widely distributed; therearefewopulentindividuals,and few signs of affluence. Even the larger landlordsmake littledisplay, and in the villagesif a masoinryhouse is found, thechances arethat it,
belongs to some successful moneylender. The agricultural labourer has, I believe,a sharedin the general improvement; the canals and the other public works of the district maintain
a suffi­cientdemand for labour-to keep wages up;and the difficulty and expense of procuring
labourers is a frequent subject of complaint amongst
the well-to-do cultivators."Itmust not be supposed,
however, that the moderate standard of comfort that has been reached is easily
maintained. It de­pends on uninterrupted bard work, and where villages belong to idler
classes, the standaird of living is lower, and
people and houses have a more neglected and poverty-stricken appearance. The lightnessor severitity of the assessment has nothing to do with
thisdifference;
even
the entireremission of the revenue would fail to securetheprosperity
of an idle community. There is no revenue-free villaggein thedistrictthat would compare in general appearance of well-doing withtheJat villageof Kakra thathas always bornean exceptionally heavy assessment ;
and mafidaar complain
as bitterlyof thiercessesand
water-rates asother peopledoof theirassessments.Fortenants-at-willthe struggle is dailygettfing harder,as rentsareforcedupby competition,
but tenantis-at-will rarley form alarge
part of any community.

On
the great questtion of indebtedness no information of value can be gathered except by
muchmoresearching investigation thanthecasualinquirieswhichwereallatthetimeof the Settlement Officers allowedto be
made.There is no doubt thatthesale of small holdingsto satisfy creditors is veryfrequent in
this district,and that mortgages are numerous :butmyopinion
isthatthepeople
areinclined
to exaggerate the extentof their iucumbrances.The industriousclassesarebecomingawareof thedangerof indebtedness,andthenumber of themwho are seriouslyinvolvedis,
I believe,much less than a cursoryinquiry fromthepeople
would suggest.Inexamining the registersof mutations I have oftenfound that transactions affecting theland werealtogetherinsignificant in number and importance.The oldcondition ofthingsunderwhichthefarmercarried on all his transactions through the banker of his own
or a neigh­bouringvillage, in whose bookshewouldnaturally alwaysbe a debtor, is passing away; and cultivators are
constantly to be found drivingtheirowngrainfromdistantvillagesto Muzaffarnagaritself togetthefullbenefit
of the host price obtainable.The growth of thispracticeindicates an independ­ence of thelocal banker that is a hopeful sign of the
future. There willalways beborrowers intheworld, but therural
populationare muchlesslikelyto get intodebt, when they no longer require the intervention of a banker oneveryoccasion
when money is to be made or spent.

At
the time of the last settlement, out of a total area of 701,431 acres
shown as cultivated, 148,203 acres were recorded as sir,
72,184
acres as cultivated by the proprietors themselves, 10,765 acres by ex-proprietary tenants,
216,193 acres by occupancy tenants, 248,417 acres by tenants-at-will, while 56,669 acres
were held rent-free. In other words, very nearlyone-third of
the whole cultivated area was in the
hands of the proprietors them­selves, almost the same amount by protected tenants and rather over
one-third by tenants-at-will. As a very large proportion of the land shown as heldby
tenants-at-will was reallyin the hands of the sharers or of occupancy tenants in addition to their other holdings,the
Settlement Officer appears justified in stating that considerably over two-thirds
of the cultivated area of the district was in the hands of cultivators whose tenure
protected them wholly or in part from a capricious
enhancement of rent and against eviction at the Throntons settlements a number of
villageswere
treatedas sub-proprietarycommunities, and the settlement were made
withthecultivatorswho
had to pay an assignment of eighteen per cent, on the revenue to the land­lord. The landlord'srightsin
such cases were expressly con­fined to thereceiptof hisallowance; he had no rightof action against individualdefaulters
if thecommunity made good any deficiency, and he was carefullyshut out
from any interference in the management. Unfortunately for themselves the cultiva­tors were described as tenants in the
settlement papers, and at the nextsettlementtheCollector,without much inquiry, reduced them to theposition
of ordinary occupancy tenants and made the settlementwiththeproprietor. In 1900, ten years later, it was
observed that the number of cultivatingproprietorshad
increased by over 8,000 persons, but at thesame time thelandheldby themhad barely increased at all,the resultbeingthat theaverage area of the holdings under this head was reduced from 5-1/4 to 4-1/4
acres. The amount of land heldby cultivatorswith
right of occupancy had actuallyin­creased to a slight extent, while the average area held by each remained as
before, 4-1/4 acres. Tenants-at-will showed a decided increase,
the number risingby nearly 12,000 persons, but the area thus heldhad decreased,
the average fallingfrom 4-1/4 to somewhat over 3-1/4 acres per tenant. Rights of occupancy are more commonly held in theJansath and
Muzaffarnagar tahsils than elsewhere. Occupancytenants are comparatively most scarce Jhinhanaand in the rest of theKairana tahsil,as in this part of the districtalmost thewhole of thelandis heldby tenants-at-will.They
are very numerous, however, in allthe Parganas of
Jansath, and especiallyKhatauli. In theMuzaffarnagar
pargana thelandis almostequally
divided between occupancy tenants and tenants-at-will,whilethe same state of things occurs in Baghra and
Charthawal. The cultivating proprietors
at the present time are most numerous in Kandhla, Charthawal, Shikarpur,Kairana and Baghra. In the eastern half of thedistrictthey are comparativelyscarce, the number being smallestin JauliJansath. Bhuma Sambalhera and Bhukar Heri. The growth of occupancy rights is no where very marked,
and is onlyto be found in a few parganas, such as Kandhla, Thana
Bhawan, Gordhanpur, Bidauli and Khatauli. There has
been no marked change of lateyears in the amonnt of landheld by theproprietors themselves,although their num­bers have increased. They have extended their possessions chiefly
in Kandhla, Budhana, Shikarpur and Charthawal, but in some
cases there has been a decided fallingoff, notably in Shamli, Baghra, Muzaffarnagar and
Bhukarheri.

Comparing
the present,figures withthose of 1840, we find an enormous change in
the holdings of the district generally. At that lime only47,935 acres were in the possessionof the
proprie­tors themselves, and occupancy
tenants cultivated 41,554 acres were cultivated by occupancy tenants, the whole of
the remainder being in the hands of tenants-at-will.In 1860 occupancy rights were heldin 121,713
acres, and proprietors themselves held 52,501 acres. These figures are a sufficient illustrationof
the rapidgrowth of occu­pancy rights during the last fifty
years. At the same time these rights have been obtainedin theface of
constant opposition on the part of the landlords,although
such oppositionis less keen in the western tracts where tenants are comparativelyscarce.
There has been a large increaseof
occupancy rightsin the confiscated villages, where the new master was
not sufficiently powerful to prevent theattainmentof suchrightsby thetenants.The policy of the landlordswas
noticed by theCollectorin 1865 shortly after the commencement of the settlement, and
subsequent reports show how keen was thestruggleas occupancy rights increased in value with the rise in prices and rents. Mr. Miller writes:
"The landlords themselves make no secret of their feelings;the necessity of preventing the acquisitionof
occupancy rightsis accepted by them as an additionalburden
imposed on land ownership by Government. They frankly state their view when discussingthe expenditurethat the management of land involves,and the feelingis nowhere
stronger than among petty cultivatingproprietors, who indeedhave often-serious
cause for regretting
that theirlandshavepassed intothegrasp of
irremov­able tenants. The landlordsfeelingis perfectlyreasonable from their own point of view. In
times of depression it may be to a landlord'sadvantage that his tenants have a stabletenure,but he can securethis end by giving long leases.Whenrentsare rising every occupancy holding-meansa diminutionin the value of an estate
and it is unreasonable as wellasuselesstoexpect landlordstosubmitcheerfullyto the
depreciation of their property. The extremes towhichtheycarrytheiropposition the narrowness of the
views that influence them; butI
do not believethat theabilityto take a
more comprehensive and liberalsurveyof thecase would have any effect in softening theiropposition. At thesame time Mr. Millerconsidered that those in the enjoymentof suchrights fullydeserve them, since competition hadgrown
so acute that the absence of such rights would bring abouta
much lowerstandard of living.The objections
includeantagonism betweenthelandlordandtenants,
an increase of litigation, a fallingoff in
permanentimprovements,andthedangerof
subletting,apracticewhich,thoughuncommoninthedistrictgenerally,issometimesfollowed
and especially by thesaiyids.

At
the last settlementthe average rental paid
by tenants at-willthroughoutthedistrict
wasRs. 5-12-1per acre;in
caseof
ex-proprietarytenants it was as much as Rs.
6-3-3 ; and for occupancy tenants Rs. 3-14-7.These rents of coursevaried largelyindifferentpartsof thedistrict.IntheJansath
tahsil tenants-at-will pay on an average of Rs.
12-6-9; in Budhana Rs.7-3-5; inMuzaffarnagarRs.5-12-4;
andinKairana
Rs.5-0-10.Howeverthesefigurescanonlybeconsidered approximate, as they are based on the calculations of the Settle­mentOfficer.Atthepresenttime,outofatotalof1,062 villages,only222aretobe foundin which cash rents prevail. On the other hand, rents in kind prevail in
only61villages, whileinalltheremainderbothcash and kind rents
are to be found.There is
a constanttendency towardsthe increase in the cash payingarea andthe
disappearance of rentsinkind. The number of cultivatorspavingcash
rents had increased from 10647 in 1860 to 29802 in 1800 and at the present time to 35934.
In 1860 as many as 20,571
cultivators paid kind rents asagainst9882
in 1901. This falling off is chiefly due
to the commutation of rents at the time of the last settlement and to the
subsequent appreciation of the system of paying fixed amounts in cash. At thepresent time, the area in which rents are wholly paid in kind
lies either in the khadir portions of Pur Chhapar, Bhukarheri
and Bhuma Sambalhera, or in the low lying tract of Jauli Jansath, where both cultivationand
the outturn of the crops are uncertain and
depend entirelyon seasonable and mo­derate rains.

The
rents in this districtmay be divided intothree classes zabti, batai and tashkhis.The first is where cashis paidfor certain cropsat
rates varying according to theirnature, such as sugarcane, cotton and maize.Batai is where the rent is
taken in kind by actual division of the
produce; where an appraise­ment of the value is made it isusually termed kankut.The landowner's share of the produce is
usually two-fifths, though in bad villages itfalls
as low as one-thirdthese rates
prevail chiefly in bhaiyachara villages, and formerly was prevalent throughout the whole
district.Tashkhis is where the land
is let out to cultivators, who often belong to
other villages, at so much per bigha, irrespective of the crops sown, but divided into
irrigated and dry.For this purpose the
kachha bigha, equival­ent in this district to one-sixth of an acre, is generally
employed, and the rate varies according to the nature of the soil.

Thatthere has been a considerable rise in rents
during the past forty years is undoubted, but since formerly cash rentswere comparativelyuncommon,itisalmostimpossible to calculate exactly how great this rise has been.The only method of deter­mining the
rise is to compare the rent-ratestaken atthe last settlement
with those at previous assessments.Mr.
Cadell made special inquiries in 1868 into the rents of certain parganas, and foundthatin
KandhlaandShamlitheywere very high, the average for good irrigated
land being nearly Rs. 8 per acre.The
rates assumed by Mr.Miller go as high as Rs. 10, but he adds thatmuchhigherratesarefrequently found; in one village a considerable area was paying Rs. 15 per acre.InBudhanathe average
for good soil appaars to have been often morethanRs. 6-12-0peracre,whereasin1890it
ranges from Rs. 7-2-0 to Rs.9-6-0.Intheeasterntracts theincrease in rents was as­sumed to be from 33 to 40 per cent,; in Shikiirpurand Budhana about 50 percent; and in Kandhla
and Shamli no more than 2o or 30 per cent.The rise has continued sincethesettlement.It
is greaterthanthe rise in prices, and seems to be due to the
competition
following on the certainty which irrigationgivesof fairreturnandto the improvement in
communications.Be­sides this, the great
increase of populationhasencouraged com­petition, and frequently we find that
ninny classes in place of industrial pursuits have adopted agriculture.Inthenorth­west of the district, however,
there has been no great rise, rents being
there still regulated by custom as much as bycompetition, and it appears that the latter will only act freelywhenalarge portion of the waste, is brought under the plough.

Examiningtherestofthepopulationinthelight of the information provided in the Census Report of 1901, we find it
to be divided into six great classes.The first of these compriseall Government
servantsand theirdependents.These amount to 8,720
persons, of whom 115 were partially depeudent on agricul­ture.Almost all of these are employed in
theadministration of the district, the
number comprising suchpersonsaspolicemen,
patwurisandthelike.The secondclass
numbered with their dependents 87,022 persons engaged inpersonalservices, alarge number of them being sweepers,
water-carriers and other domestic servants.The professional classes numbered 24,505persons,of whom a small proportion were
partly dependent onagriculture. Thegreaterpartofthese belonged
to the learned and artistic professions,mostofthembeingconnectedwithreligionin thecharacteroffamilypriestsandthelike,andtherest beingchieflyengagedineducation,medicineand law.The
unskilledlabourersareputintoaclassbythemselves, and nutnbeml with tluir dependents99,178persons.Thebulkof these arc engaged ingenerallabourofno
specificdescription, and call for no further remark.The number of personswith no actual occupation was 22,920. These include pensioners,
prisoners and beggars, together with a small
number of personswhosein­come
is derived from other property thanland.Theremainder comprisetheindustrialclass,
us apart from agriculture.They into two heads, the occupation of one consisting in the
preparation and supplyof material substances,andthelatterbeingengaged in commerce, transport and storage. Under the
lust of these we find 168,123 persons, of whom
72,209 were actual workers, a much smaller number
than in the other districts of the upper Duab.
The reason of this is that there are no manufactures of any great importance in the district, the bulk of the
population falling under this head being engaged
in the supply of articles of food, such as
grain-dealers, flour-grioders, butchers and green­grocers. None of the actual industries call for any special mention, with the exception of the manufacture of blankets and
other woollen goods, in which respect Muzaffarnagar stands first among the districts of the division. Cotton-weaving is
followed by a large number of persons, but not to the extent that we find in Meerut and Saharanpur. Metal work occupies a very
insignifi­cant position in this district, and
stoneware and wool work arc equally unimportant. Generally speaking, the manufactures are merely such as are needed to supply the ordinary Wants of an agricultural community. Under the head of commerce, transport
and storage we find 22,141 persons,but nearly
two-thirds of these are dependents of the actual
workers. This class includes bank­ers,
money-lenders, general-dealers and shop-keepers on the one hand, and on the other the railway staff, cart-owners,
pack-car­riers, porters and boatmen.

Regarding the religion of the
people generally we have already referred to the Hindus and
Musamaans, who together form the great bulk of the
population. A large majority of the Musalmans are Sunnis, but this district possess a
larger number of Shias than any other districts of
the provinces with the exception of Lucknow. This_fact is
merely due to the influense of thr Barha Saiyids, who are all
followers of the Shia sect. The Hindu sect; call for little remark. The
great majority of the Hindu popula­tion belong to no particular
sect. The Saivites and Vaishnavites are approximately equal in number, but between them do
not amount to
more than one-sixth of the whole Hindu population. Among the latter there is a
large number of Bishnois, but none of the other particular
sects are met with to any

Besides the general beliefs which arecommontoalmostallHindus, the lower classes have their favourite saints to whom
their active devotion is mainly made. One of the most favourite is Piyara Ji, whose temple
is at Ram dewa, the parent of the Dapa Gujaras, midway between Nakaur and Ambahta in
Saharanpur. His grandfather, Ramji Padarath, Badfarosh,wasbornin1488 A.D. at Durganpur,inpargauaBudhana, in this
district, and disappeared immediately afterhisbirth.Sixdaysafterwards reappeared,muchtohismother's delight, who sacrificed tothe gods inthanksgiving.As he grew up he wasappointedto ratch the cattle of his
father, and one day allowed them to stray intothe
field of aRajput, where they did much damage to the corn.The
Rajput complained, but when the authorities came to make a local inquiry, the field was found intact, andthepeople
declared that a miracle had been performed.The youth had sense enoughto make themostofthisincidentand soon gathered around him a band of disciples.His reputation increased and he
marriedinto thewealthy family of Bhawani Das, Badfarosh, of
Khudi-Shikarpur.The fruit of this union wasRaghunath,who married intoafamily at, Soron and had a son, PiyaraJi.The saintlyfameofPiyaraJireached Garhwal,andtheRaja of Srinagar gave him five village. About this time a quarrel
broke out between the Brahmans and Gujars of
Sadrpur, and the latter murdered the priest, but in revenge the ghosts ofthemurdered
mentormented
the Gujars,whoprayedfortheassistanceof Piyara
Ji. He, nothing loth, granted their request and even went further, for he declared that Sadrpur belonged to him in a
former birth, andthediscoveryof a well dug by him proved the correctnessof the
assertiontoevery one's satisfaction. Piyara Ji thentookpossessionof thevillageandchangedits name to Andeva, of whichRamdewa
is the modern rendering.He died
there andwasburied in the
village.Prayers and offerings
are made at his shrine on the sixth of the dark
half of Chait.Piyara succeeded by his son, Lai Ji, who died without issue, and zamindars elected one of his disciples, Har Gobind, to
succeed him, and sincethentheappointmentlies in the hands of the descendants of Madari, brother of Piyara Ji, and in the
handsof of the descendants of
the brothers of the widow of Lal Ji. The affairs of the shrine are managed by Bairagis,
who own thirds of the village, while one-third remains in the possession of Payara Ji descendants. The
saints followers are Vaishnavas and wear black neckleces.

Another Gujar shrine at
Bilaspur, to the south-east of Lakhnauti, is attended by numerous
pilgrims from this and the neighbouring districts in
the month of Asarh. Mr. Williams gives the following account
of its origin: " About three hundred years ago, Amrao, Gujar, a
zamindar of Bilaspur, suddenly took to shaking his head about and
exclaiming: ' I am Devi Pulamdeh. Erect a temple to me. Rati,
Brahman, will be my priest; he and his descendants are to
receive all offerings made to me.' The inspired voice was obeyed
without question. About half a century ago, Sahib Mall, a
pious Mabajan of Bidauli, built a well near the temple for the
convenience of worshippers. "

Goga Pir is worshipped
throughout theupperDuab by bothGoga HindusandMusalmans.Largeassemblies
areheldin his honour at the Guga-Kathal
fair in Guru Rdm Rai's Thakurdwara in Dehra, at theGuguhalfairatManikmau near Saharanpur, and at the SurajKundinMeerut andNilohaintheMeerut district.These assemblies are called chhariyan
from thestand­ards borne by the pilgrims.On the ninth day of the newmoon of Bhadon the standards are
raised and arecarriedabout whilst the fair lasts, which is usually two
days.The tomb of the saint is 20 miles beyondDadreraand200 milestothesouth-west of Hissar.He is alsocalledZaharPir,andinMeerutZahir Diwan.The local tradition is that Goga was the sonof a Chauhan Rajput Raja called Vacha,
or, assome say, Jewar, whose wife, Bachal, a Tuarin, after she
had been long barren, boreto him a son
through the kind intercession of Gorakhndth.His
territory extended
from Hansi to the Ghara or Satlaj, andhiscapital was at Mehra on thatriver.Anotherlegendmakes him Rajaof Bikanir.In a quarrel aboutland he killed histwobrothers, and, grieved at their fate,
prayed that the earth mightopen and swallow him, but a voice from
heaven declared that hewould not be buried alive, horse and
all, unless be repeatedtheMusalman confession of faith.He appears to havedoneso,
onwhich the earth openedand heleapedintothechasm.Another legend makeshisopponentsnot onlyhisbrothers,but hisrelative Prithvi Raja of Delhi.He conquered allthese withthe aid of Ratan Haji, whogaveGogaajavelinwhichshothither and thither through theair of
itself anddestroyed all obstacles.Prihiraj was killed in the fray, and in remorse forhiscrimeGoga buried himself alive.Gogas horse is celebrated under
the name Javadia. It is said that the
father of Goga received two grains of barley from his guardian deity, one of which hegaveto
his wife, who bore him Goga, and
another to his marc,whobrought forththe steed Javadia..Somesaythebarley-cornswere
given byGoga to hisownwife
andstud-horse.Sir H. M. Elliot thinksthatthereis some reasontosupposethatGoga " must have contendedwiththeearlierGhaznavidc monarchs,forseveral
favourite ballads relate how he fell
withhisforty-five sons and sixty nephews opposing tho greatMahmudonthebanks of the Ghara. "The Agarwala Banias arespeciallydevotedto Goga,and on his feast-day the Bhangis carry round the sacredsymbols of the Pir andlevycontributions.Cunninghamsaysthat
int he lower Himalayas ofthePanjabthereare manyshrines
to Goga.There the legend runs thatGogawaschiefof
Ghazni, and fought with his brothers Arjuri
andSurjan." He was slain by them, but a
rock opened, and Goga again sprangforth,armed and mounted.Another account makes him lord of Dard-Darehram the wastes of Rajwara. "Tod writes :" Goga,Chauhan,
was the son of Vacha Rraja, a nameof somecelebrity.Heheld the whole of Jangal-des,ortheforestlandsfromtheSatlajto Hariana;
his capital,calledMeheraorGoga-ka-Mairi,was on theSatlaj.In defending thishe fellwithforty-fivesons and sixty nephews ; and as itoccurredon Sunday,theninth of the month, that
day is held scared to the manis of Goga by the 36 classesthroughoutRajputana,butspeciallyinthe desert a
portion of which,isyetcalledGogadeo-ka-thal.Even his steed Javadiahasbeenimmortalizedandhasbecomea favourite nameforawar-horseethroughoutRajputana,whose mighty men swear bythesakaofGoga,whomaintainedthe Rajput fame when Mahmud
crossed the Satlaj.

Bbab Kalu is another of the local
saints heldingreatreverence by low castemanasChaimirs,Kahars,Kumhars,Sainis,Ghararyas and Mehras.Jats are also said to do him honour.The origin of the worship ofthis
saint isthusdescribedby Mr.Williams  the fairies were wafting solomanthroughthe
air upon bis throne.The monarch, looking down,chancedto see a young Kahar girl
heaping up manure onadung-hill.The sight disgusted
him so much that he affected tostophisnoseand ex­claimed, 'Who
in theworld couldmarrysuchadirtyugly little girl.'Soon after, however, desiring to take
abath, he had his throne laid downbytheedgeofastream.He undressed and inadvertently lefthismagic
ringnearhisclotheson the bank.Scarcely
had he plungedinthana
fish,jumping out of thewater,
swallowedthetalisman.Thefairies atonceflew
away with the throne, forthecharmoftheringwasbroken. The king remained
shivering behind the great distress.He
event­ually made a virtue of necessity and took refugeinan adjacent village,where hewashospitablyreceived in the house of the very girl he had seengatheringdung.One daythemaiden's motherremarKedtoherhusband'Youshouldmarry
our daughter to amanlikeourguest.
'This sherepeated thrice. The mystical number worked, and Solomonsaid, 'Marryher to me, for you have spoken three times.'The marriage wasaccord­ingly celebrated and consumated,theyoungcoupleliving in, a separate abode,tome time after, the king's fiither-in lawwent, to
drag the river with a net, and, catching among others, the fish that had swallowed the magic ring, carriedhomehis
prize.The fish being a large one, his wife told him to give it to his
daughter and keep the rest.When the girl cut it open, she
discovered the ring and gave the ornament to her
husband, saying, 'It is a beauti­ful thing and
worthy of you.'When the evening mealwas over, the king putthetalisman onhisfinger : thefairies appeared bringing in the throne ; he seated himselfupon it,and
vanished, never to return.His
disconsolate wife was pregnant, and in due course
brought forth a child, Baba Kalu. A stick decorated with peacock's feathers represents the holy personage.Tothisfetish trifling
offerings are made ; many other such superstitions, not to speak of ghost and demon-worship, prevail.TheyproveHindu­ismproperto be amerename.Brahmanismis
something quite above the comprehension of themasses,whosedegraded religious condition presents only one hopeful aspect.The greatest obstacle tothepropagationof atrue faithisa
creed which though false, still seemsto meet wantssatisfiedbyonemore pure. But the paganismIhave justdescribedbarelyrises above the levelof
fetishism : itisthushardtounderstand why the mind of thenominalHindushouldbeinvincibly prejudicedagainst
thereceptionof a higher form of religion and as a matter of fact, Muhammadanismhasbeenextensively accepted. "

There is
larger number of religiousfairs heldat different places inthis
districtbybothHindus and Musalmans. The Chariyan fairs referredto above are held at Muzaffarnagar. Charthwal, Pur, Thana Bhawan,Kairana, Bhukarheri,Belra, Khatauli and severalother places,thelargest
beingthat at Khatauli.The chief fairs in the district are thoseheld in kartik and Jeth at Ramra on the Jumna, a village close
to Kairana, where some6.000personsassemble on
each occasion.The Khatauli fair is held in Bhadon and is attended
by some 5,000 villagers.Besides these,the Ramlilla at Muzaffarnagar alone has an approximate average attendanceof morethan
3,000 per­sons.Musalman fairsareheldattheChehlumandatthe Moharram at Jansath,Jauli,Sambalhera,
Kawaland several oiher places in the case of
thedistrict, but none of them are of any great importance.A list of all the fairs held in the
district is given in the appendix.

Christianity has not spread in
this district to the same extent that we find in Meerut,
Bulandshahr, Sahdranpur and elsewhere. The total number of Christians at the last census
was1,402: and of these 1,259were natives.In1889 therewere only eight native Christians in the
district, and in 1891thefigure had only risen to 81 persons.It thus appearsthat thedevelopment has been very rapid, but that it hasnotbeenasextensiveas
elsewhere. The
increase inChristianity isalmostentirelydue to the efforts of theAmerican EpiscopalMethodist Mission, but in this district there is
only one BranchatMuzaffarnagar itself. Of the Christian population in 1901137were Europeans and Euroasians.Of these, 85 belong tothe
Church of England, 34 were Roman Catholics, eight
Presbyterians and five Methodist. Of the native Christians no less
than 1,116were Methodist, while 88were Presbyterians and eighteenRoman Catholics, from which it appears
that the Roman Catholic Mission at Sardhana
does not extend its operations into this district to any appreciable degree.

The Arya Samaj has made a
considerable progress in Muzaffarnagar, the number of its
followers being 3,122 in 1901. This represents an increase of
2,190 persons during the past ten years, but this number is much
smaller than in the southern districts of the Duab and Bijnor.The Aryas chiefly belong to the Jat, Taga, Rajput and Bania
castes, but besides these very many other castes, such as Kahars,
Brahmans, Barhais and Gujars, are represented, although in muchsmaller numbers, which bears out the general observation
that the Samaj is mainly recruited from the upper classes of
Hindus.

With regard to religion
generally we may again quote Mr. Miller: " The thoughts
of the great mass of the people are turned to agriculture from
their earliest days, and they have little to spare for other
pursuits or amusements.Even the children playinginthesandamusethemselvesbymaking models of
fields with boundaries, irrigation channels and water-lifts.Thislong-lasting and intensedevotionto their every­dayworkprobably
accounts for the comparatively small extent to which religion seems to
affect their daily life.Of
superstition there is of course a good deal: a certain attention must be shown to the shrines of the Bhumiya
or their local deity,the small-pox goddess must be
propitiated,the regulationsof sacred groves observed, and altars built to
appease restless spirits that return to afflicit theliving.Butthe men of
better classes appear to regard all this with acertaincontempt.Theyhave a deeply religious sense of the
existence of one omnipotent deity that often finds solemnexpressionin
their conversation, but their religion requiresneither creeds norceremonies.Temples
are rarely-built
by the Jats, andthe family priest is not
alwaystreated withthereverence
he expects.It is possible that
the spread of Muhammadanism
and the conversion of numbersoftheleading Hinducastes have led tothe discarding of the more idolatrous forms of worship, to the
weakening of the influence of thoBr£h-mansandtothespread
of aliberaland somewhat agnostic spirit in religious
(natters. The lower forms of fetish worship are entirely absent, the vermilion coloured
stones, so common further south, are hardly ever seen, images of hanuman and ganesh are
conspicuous by their absence, the builders of temples are usually Jains or Banias, rarely
agriculturists.

The
customs of the people in this district call for no special comment. The Panchayat system
is still in full force, and especially among the lower and less educated castes, such as Gujars,Jats,Dhobis,Nais,Telis,Kahiirs,
Barhais,Sanis andothers. The parties usually take an
oath on a lota filled with salt to abide by any decision that may be
arrivedat.Theculprit isalways finedandthefinegenerallytakesthe shape of a feast to the assembled brethren who have been summoned
to hear his defence. Chaudhris are usually elected
by a vote of the trade or guild and perform the same duties as in
other districts.Thereisnothing
peculiar in the dress or food of the people.The daily fare of the lower classes amounts to a
mere subsistence allowance, andmaize, juar and barley are
ordinarily consumed.The
wealthier classes eat wheat, rice, dal and
mash.

With the
exception of somemosquesof the Rohilla-Pathan period, two
at Ghausgarh andone atMorna,allof whichare graceful
and picturesque structures,a few Saiyid
tombs at Majhera andtheoncemagnificentSaiyidmansionsat Jansatb, MiranpurandKaithaura,nowfastfallingintodecay,the architecture
of the district presents nothing remarkable.There is not a single Hindutemple worthy of note, and the peasantry occupy the
ordinary over-crowded mud hutswiththatchedroofs tothe whole Gangetic plain.Marble and sandstone of the very best
quality, wrought by skilful workmenandadorned most,exquisitefretwork, entered extensively into the composition of the
Saiyidarchitecture,butthedamagetoitsmonuments commencedbySikhsandMahrattas,andnearly completed by the
poverty and indifference of the present Saiyid owners, has left little
but a few suggestive memorials of the past. The
statistics of the 1901 census showed that there were average 139876 houses in the
districts, of which 21150 were in towns. This gives an average for the whole district of eighty four
houses to the square mile, and rather more than six persons to each house. In 1872 the
number of houses was 93 to the square mile with an average of 4.4inhabitants to each house, but the number of separate enclosures was only 38 to the square
mile, which gives two or three houses
to each separate enclosure.

The language of the district
is the ordinary form of western Hindi known as Hindostani,
which prevails in Meerut, Saharanpur and the north of
Rohilkhand. The ordinary speech of the villagers includes an
unusual number of Persian and Arabic words, although their form is commonly so
changed and corrupted that the result is often most
confusing. For instance, a Chamar watching a corn
field will speak of his work as "-mahaujat, which is his idea of the pronunciation of " Muhafizat."
Similarly, a vil­lager speaking of the death of
his neighbour will say that he has " kal
kar diya," and it takes some thought to trace the expression to its true source and to identify it with "
intiqai." Generally, the inhabitants of the
uplands speak this form or Urdu, while in the
khadir a purer form of Hindi is used.

With regard to the
proprietary body we find that thetenureswhich prevail most throughout
the district are the various forms of pattidari.Thesetenuresare divided intothreeclasses,
perfect and
imperfect pattidari andbhaiyachara,andarethus defined.Wherethe shares
are known as so many portions of a bigha and are so recorded intheproprietaryregister,andthe responsibilityof all the sharers for the general liabilities
conti­nues,
the tenure is calledimperfectpattidari.Here,although
theresponsibility remainsintact, the accounts of the pattis arereally kept sepirate, and
as soon as the common landisdividedthetenure becomes perfectpattidari.Inprocessof time the landbecomesminutelysubdividedandthedivisionsof the villagelose the
character of pattis, and the land actually in each man's possession becomes the
measureof hisrights,andhence arise the bhaiyachara tenures that are
so numerous in this district. Up to the settlementof1860akindof taluqdari tenure existed in 39 villages held
by communities possessingoccupancy rights and known as the shara-naqdi
villages.

At Thornton's settlement a
certain fixed rate was laid down in the record-of-rights of these villages, and as long as
this was paid the proprietor was entitled only to a deduction, usually amounting to eighteen per cent, as
malikana. The consequence of this was that some
castes, like Luchaira, the proprietors werenot
able to enter
their villages, the entire management being in the hands of the
cultivators, who dug Wells, planted groves, andexercised all rights, whilst in others, like Mustafabad, the
proprietors were able to
compel the cultivators to resign theirprivileges,TheBoard of
Revenue abolished these rights at the settlement in 1863, substi­tuting
in lieu of them money rents for the cultivators,who
have thusbeenreduced
to the position of ordinary occupancy tenants. The change, however, is
in some measure to be regretted, for the villagecommunitieshaving the inducement which perfect secur­ity during the term of settlement afforded, did muchto improve their estates, and brought them quite up to the standard of
those villages in which the community were able topurchasethe pro­prietary rights from the Saiyid owners, and little, if at
all, behind those estates possessed by
bhaiyachara communities in the western parganas."Indeed," writes Mr. Cadell,
"it seems strange that an arrangement which
for more thantwenty yearsworked so admirablyshould
have beensetasidewithout any sufficient investigation."

In
1860 the villages of the district weredivided
into1,061 mahals,of which 497 were held in bhaiyachara, 246 in
pattidari and
258 in zamindari tenure. . During the currency of the settle­ment from 1860 to 1890
the number of mahals greatly increased, andthe number assessedby Mr. Miller was 2,992.Partitions
were most frequent in Budhana, where the
number of mahals was more than quadrupled since I860.Thiswassometimesdueto theBaniaswho had acquired a share and insisted on partition, out generally it
arose from a disputeaboutthecommon
land. TheJats
are specially prone to make a free use of the power of partition, owing to their general wish to beindependent of the authority of the lambardar, and this tendency is still as
strong as ever. In 1890 the number of
zamindarimahals hadincreased to 1347ofwhich 789were
held in joint zamindari.Bhaiyachara mahals numbered 1,006 and pattidari 579.

The
chief landowning classes in the district are Jats,Saiyids,Gujars,
Rujpuls, Tagas, Sheikhs and the Marhal family
of Karnal.The Jats hold nearly
one-fifth of the whole area, and chiefly
found in the Kairana andBudhana tahsils.The Banias
and Brahmans own eighteen per cent, and hold land everywhere,
but are most powerful in Muzaffarnagar and Jansath. The
Saiyids hold seventeen per cent, and the great bulk of their possessions
lies in the Jansath tahsil. Gujars are chiefly found in Kairana and the
khadir lands of Muzaffarnagar; Tagas in Muzaffarnagar
and Budhana ; Rajputs in Kairana andMuzaffar-nagar ; while the Sheikhs are found everywhere, their largest
possessions being in the Kairana tahsil.

The
Marhal family of Karnal own between them 86 villages, of which
37 lie in the Muzaffarnagar pargana, 26 in Khatauli, eight
in Bidauli, five in Baghra, four in Charthiiwal and two each
in Jansath, Kairana and Gordhanpur. The final revenue demand of the entire
estate is Rs. 54,964. The whole of this pro­perty
belonged to Nawab Ahmad Ali Khan, who was largely rewarded
for his loyal services rendered during the mutiny. At his death the property was divided among his three sons,
Nawab Azmat Ali Khan, Nawab Rustam Ali Khan, and
Nawab Umar-daraz Ali Khan. All of these reside
at Karnal, but they also have a house at Jarauda
in this district.

Next
to the Marhals come the Banias of Muzaffarnagarand Chhapar.
The largest landowner is Kunwar Jagdish Parshad, who, with his brother,
Debi Parshad, holds the estate of their father Lala
Kesho Das. The property consists of 56 villages, paying a revenue of Rs. 23,974. Of these, 23 lie in the Muzaffarnagar pargana, 18 in Bhukarheri, five each in Charthawal, Khatauli, and Thana Bhawan, three each in Jhinjhana, Jansath and
Baghra, and one in Gordhanpur. Rai Bahadur Lala
Nihal Chand of Muzaffarnagar holds a large property consisting of 41 villages, and
paying a revenue of Rs. 20,461. Of these, fourteen lie in Muzaffar­nagar pargana, seven in Bhukarheri, five each in Charthawal
and Baghra, three in Jhinjhana, two each in the
Jansath, Bhuma and Thana Bhawan parganas, and one in Khatauli. The property was for a long
time in the joint possession of his father, Lala Sheo Narain, and his uncle, Udai Ram.
Both of these rendered good service during the
mutiny by supplying the officers with money, and
were rewarded with a considerable amount of landed property. Rai Nihal Chand Bahadur is a leading man among the Hindus, taking a keen interest in social and public matters.
He represented in these provinces in the Hemp Drugs Commission,and
in return for this service was granted the title of RaiBahadur. 1902 hewasappointedamemberoftheLt. Governer Council. The Chapaar family of
banias now reside in Muzaffarnagar. The estate consist of 33 villages paying a revenue of
23861. 12 villages belong to Pur Chapaar, fivetoThanaBhavan & four to Bhukarheri, three eaeh to
Muzaffarnagar, Charthawal and Shamli, one eachtoKhatuuli,Baghraand Govardhanpur. The estate is at present held by females, who are member of the family of Lala NihalChand.TheirnamesareMusamaat,
Darab Kunwar,
Mukandi Kunwar, Lachhmi and Gomti Kunwar.

Next come the boharas of Muzaffaraagar, whoowntwo
large properties.Musammat Parbati, the widow
of Baldev Sahai, is in possession of 44 villages paying a revenue
of Rs. 8,162Of these 14 liein
Muzaffarnagar, twelve in Khatauli, ten in Bhukar-heri,
7in Charthawal, two in Jansath and one in
Baghra.Mumat Sundar, another widow of Baldeo Sahai, owns 41 villages,
paying an annual revenue of Rs. 7,886.Of
these villages, eleven each lie in pargana of
Muzaffarnagar andKhatauli,tenin Bhukarheri, six in
Charthalwal, two in Jansath and one in Baghra.

The Jansatri saiyid hold five
large estates. Saiyid Muzaffarali
Khan son ofKhurseed Ali Khan, of Jansath
owns 23 Villages of which 11 lie in Jauli Jansath, 8 in Khatauli, 3 in Bhuma and one in MuzalYdrnagar, paying a total revenue of Rs. 11775 .
Saiyid Hashim Ali Khan, the son ofAhmadAli
Khan owns 22 villages in Jansath and seven in
Khatauliassessed at Rs. 7590. Saiyid Asgar AliKhan,the sonofAftabAliKhan of
Jansath has 21 villages in Jausath and three in Bhuma Sambhal Hera paying a revenue of Ra10,227.SayidMahdi Ali Khan the son of Hasan All Khan,
is in possession of an estate consisting of five
villages in Jansath, three in Khatauli, and two in Bhuma Samhal Hera assessed at
Rs. 6867. Saiyid Abdulla Khan, the another son of Hasan Ali Khan, owns seven villages inJansath, one in Bhuma Sambhal Hera, paying a revenue of Rs. 55560. The Saiyid
of BhanduraintahsilMuzaffarnagararenow represented by Saiyid Asaad Raza, Saiyid Baqar Raza and
Saiyid Iqbal Raza, tho sons of Raja Raza Ali.They own betweenthem 28 villages of which fourteen lie in Jauli Jansath, eightinMuzaffarnagar, four in Bhukarheri and two in Khatauli.The estated assessedat Rs 17976.The head of
the Tissa Saiyid is Ewaz Ali, the son of Ali Haan, who owns eight villages iu
Bhu-karkhieri and six in Bhuma
Sambalhera, assessed to a revenue of Rs.
8313 The Saiyids of Kakrauli in Jansath own eleven villages of which six lie in Bhuma Sambalhera and five in Bhukarheri, with a revenue of Rs. 7,201.Saiyid Abul Raz left the property in joint tenure bettween his heirs, the chiefofwhomareSaiyid
Muhamadi Hasan, Amir Haider,
Wahaj-ul-Hasan, Jalil-ul-Hasan and Niaz Ahamad.

The chief Jat landholder in
the district is Chaudhri Ghasiram, the son of Chaudhri
Jawahir Singh of Maulaheri in tahsil Muzaffarnagar. He is the
head of the great family of Maulaheri Jats, and owns twelve
villages, paying a revenue of Rs. 9736. Of these six lie in Baghra,
three iu Muzaffarnagar, two in Khatauli and one in Bhuma
Sambalhera.

The largest Gujar landholder
is Rani Dharam Kunwar, the widow of Raja Raghuhir Singh
of Landhaura in the Saharanpur district. She holds an
estate of twelve villages, paying a revenue of Rs. 7084annually, which is tho sole remaining portion of the great muqarrari of Raja Ram Dayal.Five of the villages lie in
Gordhanpur, three eachintheparganasofPurChhaparand Bhuma Sambalhera, and one in Bhukarheri.

Rajput landholders of the
district are of little importance.Chief are the converted
Rajput of Kairi in the Kairana tahsil and the Hindu Rajputs of
Chandena in Jansath. The former hold four villages in pargana
Shamli assessed at Rs. 5,016. The property atpresentheld by Rao Maqsud Ali Khan, Abdul Baqir Khan and Abdul Latif Khan, the
sons of Mahmud Khanand by Abdul Khan, the son of Daud Khan.The Thakurs of Chandsena presentedby Chaudhri Ghansaiam Singh, the son of
Umrao Singh who
holds five villages in Khatauli, assessed at Rs 6,200.

Nothing gives a better idea
of the progress of a districtthan an accurate account of the
transfers of the landed property within its limits, the causefor these transfers, and thecastesofthose who have lost the land and of those who are new proprietors. At the same time there are few matters regarding
which it is more difficult to get
accurate information than the transfers of land. A complete register of transfers is maintained,
but many of these transactions which it records are purely nominal, such as thetransfer of an estate among relations and
fictitious sales with the object of
defeating creditors.

During the settlement of 1840
to 1860 the number of transfers s was very large and the
available information is fairly complete. Up to the close of the
eighteenth century the Barha Saiyids owned the greater portion
of the eastern parganas of the district, with the exception of a few
Pathans and Sheikhs, were the only landlords. After the
sack of Jansath the Saiyids declined and their villages were seized by the
Gujars of Landhaura and Bahsuma. Alter the conquest of the Saiyids returned, but they
seems to have lost their energy and distinguished themselves
mainly by reckless expenditure which in many cases proved
their ruin. They thus lost nearly all
the large estates they formerly possessed in Khatauli and much of their lands in Jansath and
Muzaffar-nagar. Their villages passed
into the hands of the Jats of Maulaheri,
Tagas, the Karnal family and Banias. In the Jansath pargana there were fewer transfers, but a large
part of their property fell into the
hands of the mahajans of Talra, who owed their position to the Saiyids of Jansath. The latter,
however, did better than their
kinsmen in Khatauli and succeeded in purchasing several villages in that pargana. In
Bhukarheri the Saiyids of Morna and
Tissa lost much, the chief purchasers being the mahajan family who held the office of treasurer to the
Landhaura Raja. From 1840 onwards
the Sissa and Sambalhera Saiyids regained much of their property, but in in
the khadir the smaller proprietors lostalmost all their lauds to the Banias.

In the Muzaffamagar lahsil
there were fewer Saiyids and iconscquently fewer large
transfers. The Nawab of Karnal purchased largely, as also did the
head of the Ratheri Saiyids. In Pur Chhapar the Landhaura treasurer bought up all the land
of a Jansath
Saiyids and several villages belonging to smaller communitics who were allowed to engage after the
lapse of the Landhaura muquarrari. The Jats and Tagas,
however, held their own andsame remark applies to Baghra.

In the Budhana tahsil there
were fewer transfers than anywhere else in the district.
Only one-tenth of tho area in pargana Budhana changed hands
between 1840 and 1860, the Rajputs, Jats and Tagas still
retaining the greater part of their possessions. The Jats and Pathans of
Shikarpur lost a good deal, chiefly owing to their preformances during
the mutiny. In Kandhla, too, the old proprietors lost
seventeen per cent, of their possessions.

In the Shamli tahsil the
transfers for the same period were not very numerous. In the
Shamli pargana the small Pathans, Baluchis and Sheikhs lost nearly all their possessions,
chiefly through
litigation and rebellion. In Thana Bhawan the latter cause resulted in the
confiscation of the property of the Sheikhzadas, while in Jhinjhana
the Musalman losses amounted to about one-half of the total
area transferred. In Kairana the Gujars were the chief losers,
the land for the most part passing into the hands of the
money-lenders. It thus appears that throughout the district
transfers were greatest where Musalmaans were proprietors. This was
possibly due in some cases to the severity of the early
assessments, but more often to extravagance and among the proprietary
cultivating communities we find it to be a general rule that the
most industrious gain at the expense of their weaker neighbours.

The Settlement Officers were always in favour of
maintaining tho village communities as far as possible against the
Banias, being influenced by their own impressions as to the state of
prosperity or otherwise in the vil­lages they inspected. With
regard to the constant tendency on the part of the Banias to
increase their possessions, it may be of interest to quote the words
of Sir Auckland Colvin and Mr Cadell both of whom were settlement officer in this
district. The former thus records his experience the method in whicg the original
landholders are first reduced to cultivators and finally driven away is matter of daily
experience. At different time I have had oppertunities of seeing it in its differnt stages
if the land lord has not bought the cultivating rights he first gets the Patwari on his
site he then commences a carreer of suits and arrears of rent refusing to divide the grain
when ripe and preferring to embrace the cultivators by subsequent litigations the
cultivators on their side are nothing loth and enter
on the contest in the hope of dispossessing the proprietor or worryinghimoutofhisestate.The former party never, the latteronlyunder the prospectof
ruin, wishes for and compromise. Decrees
and balances accrue, the cultivators are unabletomeet the
accumulateddemands . At lasta suit for ouster is brought, and the cultivators
losetheirrightof occupancy.Fromthat moment
the fightisover.Thelandlordlets out his fields to men from other villages, the old cultivators disperse, thesiteis
abandoned,thehousesfallin,thehigh-walled enclosures are levelled,
and in a cornerof thevillageaspaceisclearedfor the low hutsolmalisortheyards of Chamars.Theprin­cipal reason leading to theadoptionofsucha lineofaction I
believetobethatthe Mahajan
landlord does notsee in whathisrealinterestconsists.He looks for increased profits from an increased share in theproduceoftheland,not from inincreaseinthe produce itself: hence he seeks to cultivateit with
men who will not haggle about their share.Theindependent qualities of Jats and Rajputs are odious to him.The qualities that distinguish
them are precisely those whichhemost dislike. First-rate agriculture,unceasinglabour,andanintelligent
tenantry are not his object,He prefersindifferentVillageand submiasivehands.Andwhat in this district is done on a small scale would, if
occasion offered, be reproduced on a muchlarger,
populationisabundantandagricultureis the chief resource. Hence, in as faras thevillagecommunities orcultivators with right of occupancy-were destroyed, so farwould bethepopulation
dependforitssubsistenceonthetermswhichthe mahajans chose
to impose.But if the germs
of social progresslieinthe independence,theleisure andthe comfort of the mass,andto such
independence, leisure, or comfortthe tenure
of the mahajan fatal, does not a system in an
agriculturalsociety,inproportionasitextendsmahajantenuresand destroysthe village communitiesandtheoccupancy
tenants, militate againstthe conditionsofsocialadvancement.Indeed, it is difficult to see what benefit can at present be expected from largenativeland-holdersinthispartof India.Theydonotunderstand the ties of landlords.They have no enterprise or wish toimprove the country and forward a socail properity and they would
be
the very last to interest themselves about the education or progress
of the masses. All experience I believe, proves, even if
all a priorireasoning had failed to point out, that, as a rule, among an agricultural
people great landlords and a flourishing community are
incompatible; and most assuredly of all great landlords the least likely to belie
experience would be the sahukars of this district. A few large estates are in every way desirable, but what seems so objectionable is the tendency to
have nothing but large estates."

Mr.
Cadell thus writes of the Bania land owners : "Justicecompelsmetosay that in this district the Banias have, on the whole,
shown themselves no worse thanproprietors
of other castes.Almost without any exception large proprietors have done nothing for their
land, and Banias, if theydo nothingmore, generally manage to settle hamlets where population is
de­ficient.It is only the
smallerBanialandlordsthat havetime fordetailedoppression, and the worst of these are certainly
bad enough ; they treat their tenantsas they do theirdebtors;their chief endeavour is
to getthemmore andmore into their hands, to reduce
the occupancy tenant tothe positionofatenant-at-will,andif heis then
troublesome,i e., something
above the cringing Chamar, to eject him from the village.Buttheworst, petty Bania proprietor is equalled in
harshness and surpassed in courage and determination bythebad Saiyid orPathanland­lord, andexceptthat people resent oppression on the part of
a new tyrant more than they do on that of an old one, it is likely that the unprivileged
and unprotectedcultivatorwouldfind little to choose between thetwo,between the
new landlord and the old, andwouldprobablyprefer
theBaniatothePathan, orthe Sheikh
orJat,if nottotheSaiyid.The protected tenant, onthe other hand, is safest with the old landlord,
who has influence enough to obtain from the tenant the not very valuable buthighly-prizedpresent ofhay and straw, fuel,
molasis, etc., uponwhichinmanyvillagestheBaniacanonlycount whenthe
tenant is deprivedof his rights.It is probably from the same cause,
the feeling of the comparative security oftheir
influence, thatSaiyidlandlordsoftenallowto
their tenants a

fredom of building and in planting which the Bania would never
cheerfully yield; and on the whole the old proprietor, if when rousedhe is a more
violent, is a less insidious, enemy thanthe
new, when he is on good terms with his tenants, is a more generous and kindlier friend. In
most instances, indeed, the worst features of the Bania landlord is his conduct in
obtaining land not after its acquisition ; and when the new proprietor has swindled
cultivating proprietors out of their ancestral land any terms between the two are
impossible ; and such villages furnish the worst instances of Bania oppression ; and it is
chiefly in the the poor and ignorant that Government interference is required and can be
productive of good. The reckless Saiyid enough how his career of extravagance will end ;
the petty owners needs what protection the law can give him from fraud, from good policy
demands that every obstacle should be thrown in the way of the usurer obtaining land from
the class which suffers most injustice during and the greatest oppression acqusition by
the money-lender of their ancestral land.

Between 1800 and 1890 the amountoftransferswasabout sixteen
thousand acres.The chief losers were
the Saiyids and Gujars, who between them lostmorethanhalfthe total area
transfererd. Over 8599 acrespassedout ofthe handsofGovernment to other proprietors, and this area
should properly be excluded from the rest. The Jats lost nearly 7800 acres, and the.
Rajputs both hindu and Musalman nearly 3,000 acres. Besides these the Baluchis who parted
with nearly 7,500 arces, alone deserve mention, as they lost over one-third of their small
property. The losses of the smaller proprietors are more considerable then would appear
from the figures, as Jats of Maulaherilargely
extended their possessions. The chief gainers were Banias who increased their estates by
over 38,000 accres. Next to them come Sheikhs, Khattris, Brahmans, the Karnal families and
Bohras. It thus appears that nearly three-fourth of the land transferred passed into the
hands of money lenders.

During past ten years the total number of transfers has been 309, and 208 of these
the losers were saiyid, sheiekhs and pathans, which shows that the old tendency of the
Musalman proprietors to lose their possessions through extra­vagance is still maintained
at the present day. Mr. Cadell's remark that transfers in this district have been
uninfluenced by the revenue demand applies equally to the present period. Since Mr.
Cadell's settlement the number of cases under private sales has increased almost
systematically. The vendors are mostly Musalmans, Rajputs and Gujars, and the reason for
their decline is obviously the same now as it has been in the past. In the case of the
Saiyid and Sheikhzada communities large pro­perties have dwindled into petty shares of
small area while the expenses have remained the same. The Rajputs and Gu­jars of this
district are reckless in the matter of cultivation and prefer to follow their own
pursuits. During the years 1890 to 1895 the average number of cases of sale under orders
of court was 203 annually, while there were on an average 734 cases of private sale and
561 cases of transfers under, mortgage. These figures show a constant increase over those
of the period of the former settlement. During the years 1895 to 1900 the average number
of sales under order of court rose to 221, while private sales increased to 1,010 and
transfers under mortgage to 892. Losses have been greatest on the part of the Sheikhs, who
are responsible for over one-third of the total number of transfers, while next to them
come Pathans, Mahajans and Saiyids. The chief gainers, strange to say, have been the
Saiyids, whose property has largely extended of late years throughout the whole of the
Jansath tahsil. Next to them come the money-lenders and the Jats. Transfers have been
numerous in Jansath alone, the only other parganas in which any number of cases have
occurred being those of the Budhana tahsil, Baghra, Shamli, and Jhinjhana.